Castellania The palace was built in around the 1530s, and it initially housed the
Magna Curia Castellania Melitensis, a tribunal which was established by Grand Master
Juan de Homedes y Coscon in 1543. The building's original design is attributed to the architects Diego Perez de Malfreire or Nicolò Flavari. It remained in use as a courthouse until 1572, when a
new Castellania was built in
Valletta after the
Order of St. John moved their headquarters there.
Inquisition The Inquisition was established in Malta in September 1574, Between the late 16th and 18th centuries, the various inquisitors who lived and worked in the palace made a number of major alterations to the building, and it was gradually transformed into a typical Roman palazzo with some
Baroque influences. The palace was enlarged with the acquisition of nearby properties, and the first major renovation began in the 1630s under inquisitor Fabio Chigi (later
Pope Alexander VII). The façade was rebuilt in 1660 to designs of Francesco Sammut, although it is often mistakenly attributed to Francesco Buonamici. The palace was damaged during the
1693 Sicily earthquake, resulting in further repairs and alternations. The upper floor was possibly built in 1707 by the architect
Giovanni Barbara. The interior was also altered and embellished throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, with the main staircase being built in 1733 to designs of
Romano Carapecchia. Due to these modifications, the building has a somewhat labyrinthine plan. The only remains of the original Castellania is a small
courtyard with a Gothic
groin vault cloister.
French occupation and British rule The inquisition was abolished during the
French occupation of Malta in June 1798. During French rule, the building was used as the headquarters of the
Cottonera district. The coats of arms on the façade and some of those inside the building were probably defaced or removed at this point. Those forming the top hierarchy of the inquisition were given two days to leave the country. Around the turn of the century, the building was transferred to the civil authorities in exchange for some property in Valletta. The Public Works Office made plans to demolish the palace and replace it by government apartments in 1908, but nothing materialized. In 1942, the palace was converted into a temporary
Dominican convent after their original convent and church had been destroyed by aerial bombardment in
World War II. The palace survived the bombings, and it was transferred back to the Museums Department after the Dominicans rebuilt their convent in 1954. The palace was restored again and it opened as a museum called the Inquisitor's Palace on 21 February 1966. The upper floor became a Folklore Museum on 5 December 1981, but by the late 1980s the museum was in decline and only parts of it remained open to the public. The palace was fully reopened as the National Museum of Ethnography in 1992, and apart from a museum it also houses
Heritage Malta's ethnography section. the
Order's bakery in Valletta before it was demolished in the 1930s, and the
Manderaggio before it was rebuilt in the 1950s. The Inquisitor's Palace is one of the few surviving palaces of its kind around the world, and the only one which is open to the public. Many buildings used by the inquisition were destroyed during and after the
French Revolution, or were left to decay over the centuries. The summer residence of Malta's inquisitor,
Girgenti Palace, has also survived and it is now the summer residence of the
Prime Minister of Malta. The building was included on the Antiquities List of 1925. It is now a Grade 1 national monument, and it is also listed on the
National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands. ==Architecture==